Packin Heavy

 I'm still thinking about Packing Light. The article JT wrote was excellent but keeps reminding me about how lousy I pack. I found this pic from about 10 years ago.

 I see I have all the essentials. My camping gear, cooler, folding chair and a three cylinder engine. I'm sure the saddle bags and tour pak are jammed full.
 Kinda top heavy. If the bike tipped over I would have to unload it to stand it back up.

 Later I decided I needed a trailer to haul all my stuff.

 I built it from a Fleet Farm trailer kit and a car top carrier. Its funny. If there is room for more stuff I will find stuff to put in there.
 Now for me, pulling a trailer was all about two things. First, I like all things related to motorcycling. This was an aspect of biking I had never tried before. I wanted to know what it was like. I met a lot of others that dragged trailers or campers and I had some fun. The second thing about towing is it allows you to do more things on two wheels that you would normally need a cage to do so that gives it big bonus points right there.
 Before I sold the big Kaw I was considering towing a small sport bike behind it. Looking back I'm glad I didn't go down that road.
 This year when I take off on the bike for 7-9 days I'm gonna force myself to pack everything I need on my sissy bar. No saddlebags or anything else. I know that for a lot of people this is easy but as you have just read I have a history of packin heavy. No longer will I be the guy you turn to for an extra pair of gloves, a snack or a roll of ass wipe. I will however, be carrying a digital volt meter and tire repair kit. These items have saved my butt enough times that I won't go on a long trip without them.